


Leap Year AKA the story of how Jemma Simmons didn't plan to propose

by Aretsuna



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fitzsimmons Rom-Com Challenge, Romance, Romantic Comedy, some Jemma/Will that is doomed to fail
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-13 01:44:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7957456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aretsuna/pseuds/Aretsuna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma Simmons always has a plan.This time, it's a plan to use an old tradition and propose to her boyfriend during the Leap Day. But fate decides otherwise when it forces her plane to land in Scotland instead of London. And so, the biggest, unplanned journey of her life begins. A Leap Year AU written for The Fitzsimmons Network Rom-Com Challenge</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

_“Do you have everything, Jemma?” She heard the question coming from deep inside the apartment._

_She did. She did have everything she ever wanted: her dream house, a perfect and responsible man, a satisfying job. Everything. And yet, when she stood there, in the middle of her perfect life listening to the fire alarm beeping, she realised that she had nothing to grab. Nothing at all. Nothing that she would rush to take, nothing she would like to hold and take with her to safety, nothing she wanted so much to protect, that it would be an impulse when a threat was coming._

_Nothing she couldn’t live without._

_The most important thing in her life was simply not there._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Few words about this fic. First of all, huge thanks to TheLateNightStoryTeller and Eclecticmuse for being wonderful beta readers (like always). Second, be warned: time-space continuum doesn't exist in this fic. A journey from Scotland to London will take as long as the plot needs it to, and I have no idea about geography so I'm not even trying to pretend. Third: I haven't finished this fic yet, but I will try my hardest to update as often as possiblel.


	2. Chapter one, where a ring, a plane and an inn bring huge change

The news hit her stronger than Jemma could ever have expected. And much, much slower. First, it was a simple piece of information: Daisy had gotten engaged to Lincoln, here’s the ring, here’s the diamond, congratulations are in order. So Jemma did what was expected of her: congratulated her best friend with a wide smile on her face, looked enthusiastically at the ring, complimented it and asked some questions about wedding plans. Then she came right back to her own life. But the tiny thoughts started appearing in her head and piled in there, pushing her to bigger conclusions. Daisy wouldn’t be single ever again. Her friend would be bonded forever with Lincoln, with a white dress and an old church and dozens of witnesses. Linocln’s flat wouldn’t be called just his anymore, it would be Mr and Mrs. Campbell’s. Daisy wouldn’t be joining them on girl’s nights so often and then some babies would be born and they would probably move to a house in the suburbs with a yard and a swing. Daisy would soon achieve another level in adult life. 

Those thoughts were running in the back of Jemma’s head, unnoticed until the very moment when she was preparing her gift for Daisy’s engagement party and something snapped in her. She was looking through their memento box, trying to find something from their school days to show during her speech at the party. Among silly drawings and photos from their trips there was a list of goals they both wrote at Jemma’s 11th birthday. While Daisy hadn’t become a singer or made a journey around the world, Jemma had indeed become a Doctor in biology (she’d gained another PhD, too) and got a job in one of the best labs in the country. She had visited Peru and gotten to work with neurotoxins. There was only one thing on her list that she hadn’t accomplished yet: getting married. According to the list, she had only 10 months left to make it in time. And so, Jemma Simmons realised that there was one area of her life that needed more planning and preparations. 

First, she reevaluated her goal. After all, just because her 11-year-old self thought it would be a good idea, didn’t mean that it really was the right decision. After some hours of research, Jemma had to admit that even as a kid, she was smart. Now was the best moment. She had a good job and her career was in a great place, she had enough income to afford a family, statistics said that the most successful marriages were made by women near her age, and while she was in the best period when it came to fertility, it wouldn’t last forever. It was reasonable to get married soon.

It was even more reasonable, given how well her relationship with Will was going. They had been together for a long while now. While they’d had their differences (like every couple did, Jemma was sure of it) they’d never failed to resolve them in a calm, rational way. The flames of passion were not burning their relationship to ashes and they’d successfully passed the test of time. Everything was perfect. They made plans together. They were looking for a flat to move in together, a nice place where they could live and save time on trips to the other during their date evenings. Will even proposed that she move in with him, but as he had a bachelors flat, it would be simply ridiculous for two people to live in a place designed for one. They had already chosen the apartment they would like; now they were just waiting for the realtor to close. It would be a logical step in their relationship to talk about marriage now.

With this resolved, Jemma picked out an outfit for their dinner date. Her plan for the evening was to casually bring it up and suggest to Will that if he wanted to ask something, she was ready. Who knew, maybe he had been ready too, maybe he had been walking around for weeks now with a ring in his pocket, waiting for the perfect moment to pop the question. He knew Jemma liked to have everything planned, but maybe he thought it would be romantic to surprise her? 

She shook her head. There was no point in wondering; she should figure out a way to subtly let him know that they should take the next step. When she was in the middle of preparing a speech about it, her phone rang. Checking the screen, she found a text message from her boyfriend. Even before she opened it she knew it wasn’t anything good, and she was not mistaken. Apparently Will had to stay longer at work, since an emergency had come up. He warned to know if it would be okay if they postponed their date. Jemma agreed, of course, because she knew good girlfriends don't throw a tantrum just because a date they were getting ready for got called off at the last minute. Again. She sighed and started taking off her jewellery. 

Next time, then.

* * *

“There will be no ‘next time’, Jemma!” Bobbi slurred. Since Jemma’s plans for the evening had been ruined, she decided to treat it as an opportunity to catch up with her friends. “Next time is what kills your life! Waiting for the perfect moment kills your life, it slips through your fingers. No waiting, just do it now.”

“But I can't just go to him, and tell him to ask me the big question. Besides, he's leaving tomorrow morning for a conference in UK, he's busy with packing. I can't just go and throw this at him now.”

“Oh, this reminds me of a lovely story my grandma used to tell us when we were young. Grandpa was so shy that no matter how many hints she dropped, he couldn’t get himself to propose, so she did. In the UK, during leap year. It's tradition. And a guy can't say no. Because of tradition,” Bobbi waved her beer to underline the point. “You should do this, Jemma. Why wait for when he gets in the mood?”

Jemma just shook her head and sipped her beer. 

The next day, more sober and wondering what to do with her free weekend she checked on the leap year proposal tradition. Just out of curiosity. Watching videos of happy couples and reading some historical stories as well as news from local papers, she began to wonder. Actually, who decided that it had to be a man who asked? If she was responsible enough to say yes, wasn't she also responsible enough to ask? She was a feminist, why should she wait for Will’s good mood and surprise? Why not make him a surprise of his own? Why not give him a chance to feel some unexpected joy and let her do the planning? She was better at it, anyway. Besides, it was her who wanted to get married, she should be the one to ask if he felt the same. 

It was in the afternoon, as she drank her five o’clock tea, that she decided. She would make her own fortune to be exactly what she wanted. She booked her flight and started packing with a strange giddiness. She was a strong female who had just decided to take control of her own life. 

* * *

Apparently life didn't like being controlled and wanted to remind Jemma who was in charge. There was a storm and so her plane had to take a detour and land. In Scotland. Far, far away from her destination and Will. In the middle of nowhere. She didn’t want to wait for the next plane and decided to beat all the odds and get to her boyfriend on land. So, Jemma took the first bus which went south, switched to a boat, but by the end of the day, she’d only reached a small town. Still in Scotland. Tired and resigned, she asked around about car renting. Some old folks pointed her to a garage and she went there, still hoping that maybe somehow she would change her luck for the better. 

* * *

“To London?” the mechanic asked her, his blue eyes wide with disbelief. “No way. Not at this hour.” He shook his head and Jemma didn't know what to do. She had to go.

“I'll pay you twice as much as you'd normally take,” she proposed.

“And what makes you think I wasn't already charging twice? This is a garage, we fix cars, not drive people around the country. You can take the bus. It takes off every Thursday since it’s the market day.”

“I can't wait that long. Will is going to be here for only four days” She tried to make him see her reasons, but after she said it she realised that he had no way of knowing who Will was or why it was so important.

“Sorry,” he shrugged, and Jemma couldn't believe that that was it. Her great plan, her one shot at being spontaneous, all failed because she couldn't convince some mechanic in a Scottish village to help her. 

“You can stay for the night.” Jemma heard from behind her. She looked back, only to see a woman with dark eyes and fair hair, some of her features very similar to the guy she was just talking with. “You won't get anywhere at this late hour, but we have guest rooms, you can stay here for the night. We will all talk about your problems tomorrow. Everything is easier after good night sleep.”

“You have guest rooms?” Jemma asked with surprise. Who had ever heard of a garage with guest rooms? Maybe they were serial killers trying to lure her in a trap. But she was the one who had come to them…

“Yes. It used to be an inn for years. My great-grandfather opened it. The garage is just a new addition, something my husband started. People don't travel the way they used to, no horses, no chariots, but their cars need fixing, right? We still have rooms and there's just the two of us. You can stay.”

“Thank you, Mrs…”

“Fitz. Rebecca Fitz, and that's my son, Leo.” 

* * *

It was nice to take a bath after a long journey. It was relaxing and for a moment all her muscles went loose and she forgot all her worries and the anxiety of the clock ticking and the time she had for fulfilling her plan passing. For a moment it was just her and warm water with the scent of roses. It must have been a nice inn. The room was clearly not used often, but kept in a good state, arranged in a vintage style, giving her a feeling of travelling back in time. Who knew that it would be so good to get away from her life for a moment? To change her perspective. Back home, a warm bath wouldn’t be enough to ease her nerves, they were always eating her alive before every important event at work and nothing, not even Will’s words of comfort, were able to calm her down.

But soon her bath was over and she went for supper and the details of her reality  came rushing back. Apparently her host wanted to hear something about what brought Jemma there. And so, she told her the story, because she found herself unable to deny any answers to this lovely woman who let her sleep under her roof and shared her food with her. Even if her son was a grumpy one, who just sat and ate without uttering a word, as if Jemma wasn't there at all, it was still nice to share the burden of the day with someone who was willing to listen.


	3. Chapter two, where a mother worries about her child and someone else too

It was a lovely story, if anyone asked Rebecca. Jemma was trying to propose to her boyfriend, but evil fate had pushed her away from her road, and yet the girl was not giving up, determined to fight for her love. And here was her and her son, the first ones to whom Jemma turned for help. Of course they would do their best. Fitz would help her and Dr Simmons would in the future tell tales about them to her children. And Rebecca would be able to take a breather from her sons’s overprotectiveness too, which wouldn't hurt at all. So she went to her son and told him exactly that. He would help the girl. He would take his car and drive her all the way to London, and for a little bit he would live outside of this tiny village where he’d found himself stuck years ago.

“But the garage,” he stared, shaking his head. “I have to keep an eye on it. What if someone comes by and wants their car fixed?”

“Mack will manage for a few days. It's not like there's a long queue of clients.”

“People come all the way from England and Wales with retro cars sometimes,” he tried to defend his point. “He can't fix them on his own, he doesn't have enough experience-”

“ _Sometimes_ is the key word here. The world won't collapse if you take a week off. Help the girl. She's smart and pretty and when was the last time you've gotten out of here?”

She knew exactly when it was. When he started his studies at Oxford. Came back after three months and locked himself in his father’s garage ever since his death. And there was nothing she could do about it back then, it was him that helped her manage and pull through that difficult time of grief. But that was years ago and she had changed. The whole world around them had changed and they had to go with the flow.

“Would do you some good to spend some time with a nice lass,” she pointed out.

She wasn't an old hen who would want to play a matchmaker, especially with a girl running after another man, but her son could really use some time interacting with someone new. And their guest was a scientist, smart and pretty, surely they would get along. Maybe Jemma Simmons could even convince Leo to go back to his studies, remind him how much he loved science back in the days when he was free enough to dream about studying and becoming a real rocket scientist. Or at least maybe it would convince him to leave their tiny village more often than his business required.

“Mum!” The disapproval was clear in his eyes. “She's got a boyfriend!”

“Aye, she's got some boy. But if after so many years they are not married, not even engaged yet, then that means something. And you're just supposed to help her, not to swoon her and steal her. Seriously Leo, get your head out of your ass and be a nice person! I haven't raised an oaf!”

He wouldn't deny her, she knew that. Her son wouldn't deny her anything, that was the whole reason why they were stuck in this situation to begin with. He couldn’t deny coming back and supporting her when his father died, even though she never asked, he just knew he was all she had left and so she needed him near, reminding her that she was not left alone in life. And then he stayed longer and longer and it was more and more difficult for him to move on from the life they’d built for just the two of them. But this time, she would get her son out, even if she would have to use tricks to do so. And so, after a few more arguments and some whining and some pleading, Leo agreed to help Jemma Simmons find the love of her life. Rebecca just hoped that he would find something for himself on that journey too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short one, because real life is still insane ;)
> 
> Also, don't get me wrong, I don't encourage hitting on people who are in a relationship because that’s wrong. I just wanted to show that alienating them because of it is stupid, and Jemma and Fitz might still become friends even if she has a boyfriend (at the moment) and Fitz really need to get out more.


End file.
